


Watch Me Disappear

by tarotea_ji



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Avatar (Avatar TV), Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Minor Character Death, Mutual Pining, Pining, Yue (Avatar) Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tarotea_ji/pseuds/tarotea_ji
Summary: Yue is working to free war prisoners when she sees Katara's name amongst the list. She immediately is curious how the last waterbender of the southern water tribe ended up in Boiling Rock prison and determines to learn the story.Yue is alive bc the war ended before the siege on the north. Iroh negotiated a peace treaty after Lu Ten dies in the siege of Ba Sing Se and is poisoned. His dying wishes are to have Zuko take his ashes to Ba Sing Se so he can be reunited with Lu Ten in the spirit world. Zuko and Katara meet on his journey and their stories between intertwined.I saw another zutara fic take inspiration from a bollywood movie and thus my idea for this fic was born. Essentially it's the movie veer zaara, a 2004 Bollywood movie, adapted into the Atla universe. This is my first fic, I hope someone may read and enjoy this! not 100% cannon compliant, it will be revealed more over time. It's a focus on Zutara so sorry for an incomplete gaang lol.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> here it begins, my first zutara fic. I love them so much I've been wanting to write one for so long and now I'm finally doing it I'm excited ! I hope you enjoy <333 please leave feedback if you'd like !

Watching the auroras dance and paint their way across the dark canvas of a winter sky reminds Katara of a past she could never have. The four of them - Kya, Hadoka, Sokka and her - used to exit the icy walls of their village and sit at the edge of the ocean and look into the vast darkness which characterized their winters. Sokka sits on his father’s lap, gleefully pointing up at the sky. Kya holds Katara in her arms and she leans on her mothers shoulder as they gaze up as the aurora begins flickering. Four pairs of eyes are ablaze with the glow of a night sky which is flaming in greens and purples. 

Katara tells Zuko about those days. She looks up at him as she holds his arm, guiding him out of the village towards the ice. Zuko beams back at her, even after all these years he looks forward to the solar flares which have made their way from the sun he rises with to the land of the moon and the woman he loves which has become his home. He extends his other hand to light a small flame to keep them warm as they move further onto the ice fields. Zuko wraps his arm around her waist and she leans against his shoulder as they both look up to meet the luminous and colorful sky.

Katara starts hearing the thundering of a fire nation ship breaking through the ice. The ice shatters and cries out falling into the sea, steam is pouring out ominously from the ship’s funnels. She’s holding Zuko’s hand, running frantically away from the ship. Katara hears a crackling of ice sheets splitting apart, and she is all too aware of Zuko’s hand slipping out of hers. He’s flailing in the water and she jumps in after him until the bow of the ship is about to reach them and --

Katara is suddenly wide awake. She is quivering even after she realizes she is still in her red prisoner robes. She is still enclosed by the rust colored metal walls of her cell at the boiling rock. Her cell is small and musty, the occasional guard will walk by to sneer at the ‘water tribe peasant’. They call her and mock her for her silence. She can’t remember the last time she heard her own voice, she has nothing to say to people who refuse to address her by her name. 

“Has anyone ever paused to consider how the last waterbender from the southern water tribe became a prisoner of the fire nation?” she wonders silently.


	2. Children of the Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yue introduction !! I really wanted to write her into this story so I made sure it would make sense with the au I've established. more will be revealed in upcoming chapters!!

Even in a land of blazing sun and fiery heat, Yue still carries the snow and the moon with her. Her silvery white hair is no longer kept in elaborate hairdos, it flows freely behind her in moonlit locks. Her throat is free of a betrothal necklace, she wears it wrapped around her wrist as a symbol of her culture. It is also a symbol of her diverging from everything she was raised to be. Yue is still a child of the moon, and will always be one. She all too easily could have been one of the names on a paper containing the list of war prisoners if the fire nation had raided her tribe instead of their sister tribe in the south. Yue peers over the edge of her seat to view the steaming water in the center of the caldera, her element is being boiled alive. She shudders at the thought of escaping prisoners entering the boiling water, fighting only to be shriveled and scorched by opposite elements coming together only to create heated turmoil. Her purpose is to free the innocent, so they do not have to meet their death in a battle between fire and water or at the hands of guards whose purpose is trying to steal humanity away from the prisoners. The gondola comes to a squeaky halt, she gracefully lifts herself out onto the platform where the warden is waiting to meet her.

He is clad in a metal uniform, complete with a metal helmet with the fire nation symbol on it resting above his graying hair. The robes he and the guards wear are a shade of red, so eerily similar to the color of blood, adding to the sinister atmosphere of the metallic maze of the prison. They are in the heart of a volcano, and Yue wonders if one day it will erupt again in its molten fury. The prison itself would finally live up to its name, melting into a cascade of glowing lava, filling the caldera with rocks which have been boiled by the heart of the earth.

“You’re the water tribe girl here to see the war prisoners, huh?” the warden sneers at her. She breaks out of her reverie to return his gaze. She is poised but there is coldness visible in her icy eyes.

“Yes I am.”

“I was told you are to give me a list of war prisoners whose cases are to be reopened.”

“Here they are.”

  
He hands her a stack of names and then grumbles under his breath, “Ozai and Azulon would have let the colony trash rot in prison. Firelords are not meant to be merciful.”

Yue swallows her angry rebuttals, something she is all too used to doing for the sake of maintaining peace. She’s no longer the decorated princess of the north. She is not clad in heavy, embroidered furs. She is not just a silent accessory made up of snowy hair woven with blue gems and icy eyes for the guests of the illuminated icy halls she grew up in.

She breathes and whispers to herself, “this is not the time to dwell on the past. You know you did the right thing for yourself.”

She instead begins examining the papers in front of her. She squints, and thinks to herself “there are so many prisoners from the earth kingdom” Overwhelmed by the sheer number of names, she glances through page after page, falling into a trance from the inky waves made up of the careless scrawls.

She stops suddenly. Her eyes widen in surprise as her gaze comes across the name of one particular prisoner. She knows where she will start.

“Sir, where is this prisoner located?” She asks pointedly, indicating the name on the list.

“I should have expected this.”

Yue remains silent and holds his gaze.

“This cell is in the very back of the prison. Few know how to navigate through Boiling Rock as well as I do. This prisoner is kept in a particularly remote location so I will accompany you.” He digs through his pocket, the sounds of a plethora of keys crashing against each other until he emerges holding a ring of particularly rusty ones.

“Ah here’s the key. So rusty! Ha!” He laughs crudely, “Are you still sure this is where you want to go?”

“I am sure, sir,” Yue responds politely, but her words come through gritted teeth.

The warden leads her past countless prisoners, who peer cautiously at them through their iron curtains. She lets her gaze fall to the ground, an endless sea of metal tiles which now look ashen rather than lustrous. If she returns the gazes of other prisoners, she will be reminded of everything she cannot do for the people across the bars. She senses that they are moving deeper into the complex, the cells are becoming increasingly musty and the floors are made of ragged stones.

Yue can’t tell how long it's been since they entered the prison halls, but at long last the warden stops in front of the entrance of a particularly rusty and ominous looking cell.

“Here she is. The southern water tribe peasant,” he sneers, narrowing his eyes at the figure in the cell.

Yue steps forward to the entrance of the cell, and looks into a pair of luminous sapphire eyes which stare at her from between the bars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited to write more of this story. I feel like Yue's character was so interesting and I know her sacrifice is part of that, but I also would like to explore her personality beyond her identity as the princess of the Northern water tribe. Hope you enjoyed this chapter !!


	3. Crossroads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yue confides in Katara in the hope that Katara will open up to her and share her story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm sorry if my posting is inconsistent, that's on me. I am committed to this fic and I plan to see it through since it's a story I really want to write and share.

The warden’s thundering footsteps have faded out of ear shot. A heavy silence filled with unasked questions flows through the bars to fill the cell. The moment is far too eerie between the woman in front of her averting her eyes and the stifling emptiness of a story untold, so Yue begins to speak.

“The firelord has decided to reopen the cases of war prisoners which is why I’m here.”

Her reply is silence.

“I’m Yue of the Northern Water tribe. I used to be a princess. My whole life I was told that I was just a girl. Just a princess. Just the betrothed of a warrior. Just my father’s daughter.” Yue breathes, and swallows her anger which still has not melted away.

“But things changed. I started spending all my time reading in the library until I’d learned enough about politics to hold my own with my father and his council. Every time I spoke up, they silenced me, or ignored me. I was nothing more to them than a breathing decoration for the ice palace.” Yue glances at the woman in front of her and sees that she’s still facing away from her towards the corner of the cell.

“I wasn’t a bender, so I wasn’t even allowed to learn healing. Sometimes I’d go to watch their classes even if I couldn’t participate. After all the other girls left, I’d stay and talk to the teacher, Yagoda. I told her how I felt like my title and life were trapping me in an icy cage of a royal life. I told her about how I wanted to be more, to do more with my life despite constantly being shown I couldn’t. She was the only person I confided in.”

She is still met with more silence.

“She told me about how I reminded her of her friend Kanna who fled her betrothed and the patriarchal bonds of the northern society and left for the southern water tribe. Yagoda told me how she helped Kanna plan her escape and how she would do the same for me. There was a full moon on the night I left. She told me to let the spirits of Tui and La guide me. Before I left, she unclasped the betrothal necklace around my neck and handed it to me.”

Yue holds up her hand to show where the necklace now is wrapped around her wrist.

“Do they have betrothal necklaces in the southern tribe? I knew from the moment I read your name you were from my sister tribe. I’m here to free you, but I’m going to need to know how you ended up in the most dangerous prison of the fire nation, master waterbender Katara of the Southern Water tribe”

Katara suddenly turns around to face her, eyes wide with surprise and manages to whisper faintly, “Thank you.”

“I can’t remember the last time I heard someone say my name,” Katara’s voice is still a little horse but she is speaking more audibly now. “My name means hope.” She laughs, “Ironic isn’t it? But somehow after all these years it's all I have left.”

“I’m named after the moon”

“We are children of the moon after all,” Katara replies softly.

“When I was born my parents didn’t think I would live, so they prayed to Tui and La for days. The spirit of the moon herself gave me some of her strength so I could stay alive. I promised myself when I left that I’d make the most of the life I was granted by the spirits. And that’s what I intend to do, I promise I will do everything I can to get you out of here.”

“You mentioned someone named Kanna, earlier right?”

“Yes, I wonder if I could meet her someday and tell her it’s because of the trail she blazed, I was able to follow her path when I came to my crossroads.”

“That’s my Gran-Gran.” Katara smiles, “I had no idea about what she went through until I visited the North myself in search of a master.”

“You went to the North only to be refused by Pakku, right?”

“He refused to teach at first, so I challenged him to a fight. I proved myself as a warrior when I won our duel, so he conceded and began teaching me waterbending. Actually, he’s how I found out about my gran-gran’s past.”

“I hav-” she reaches for something which would be resting around her neck, but there is nothing. “I had a necklace given to me by my mother, it was the only thing of hers I had left. Anyways, Pakku recognized that necklace as the betrothal necklace he’d given to his fiancé, Kanna, and asked how it had reached me. That’s where I learned of her past, and the significance of my necklace.”

“Why don’t you have it anymore?”

“It got lost along the way, I suppose.” Katara averts Yue's gaze and reaches inside the sleeve of her baggy robes and pulls out a gleaming crystal and extends her hand to let Yue see it.

“You’ve been to the crystal catacombs?” Yue barely contains her surprise.

Katara nods, “It’s beautiful there, isn’t it?” She shuffles and sits up straight with a poise that prisoner robes cannot obscure and slides the crystal back into her robes.

“Anyways, I’ll tell you the story of how I lost my necklace.”

* * *

Uncle was right. “Destiny is a funny thing,” he would say. Zuko wonders what Uncle would think of him now as he walks through an arid dawn, hoping that no one from the earth kingdom village where he spent the day will notice his departure. Someone lightly taps his shoulder, and reflexively he grabs the Dao swords which hang on his back.

“Relax. It’s me, Katara.”

Zuko turns to face her with his signature grimace, “What do you want now?”

“I know you’re wondering what I’m doing here. I couldn’t sleep last night because of the full moon so I was practicing my waterbending, anyways I saw you sneaking out of the house. I knew if I just let you leave; I’d always wonder if that idiot fire nation boy ever made it to Ba Sing Se.”

He turns his face so she can’t see the slight smile she’s responsible for.

“You clearly have no sense of how to navigate through the earth kingdom and my work here is finished so I thought I could accompany you.”

“Thank you”

“Hey, don’t flatter yourself, I just want to make sure I won’t be bothered by the thought of not knowing how your journey went. I didn’t heal you for nothing,” she laughs, but the look she gives him betrays that curiosity is not her only reason.

Zuko continues walking along the dusty path which leads out of the village and weaves through fields with grasses swaying slightly with the wind. As the sun rises, it turns the scenery from greys into vivid greens. They fall into a steady pace, following the path and holding together silence filling the stifling heat of a day in the earth kingdom. Zuko wipes sweat off his forehead and he pauses his walking. Up ahead, there’s a crossroads, and as much as he’d hate to admit it, he has no idea where to go. Katara notices his hesitation and she laughs, and points at the right branch of the trail up ahead.

“Here, you want to get to Ba Sing Se as quickly as possible?”

Zuko nods reluctantly.

“Then we need to go to Full Moon Bay and take the ferry. It’ll take a couple of days to get there, but once we do it’s the quickest way to make it to the city.” As they continue along the route she indicated, Zuko’s curiosity overrides his usual disinterest in conversation.

“You’re clearly a waterbender, how do you happen to know the earth kingdom so well?”

“I’m on my way home from training with a master in the North. I actually should be back by now, but I noticed there were droughts across the nation so I’ve been working with earthbenders to build wells and irrigation systems in places which have been most affected by the droughts.”

“Aren’t the earthbenders just starting to be released from the prisons?” Zuko looks away from her as he asks, after all it’s the fault of his bloodline that they were imprisoned in the first place.

“Technically yes, but you’d be surprised at what some waterbending and inspiring words can do.” Katara smiles smugly at the recollection, but she still notices how Zuko is averting his gaze.

She continues, “I’ve been traveling between villages for a few weeks now. That’s why I was there when they brought you back. Do you remember what happened?”

Zuko shakes his head, “I just remember being ambushed by a group of warriors who came out of the trees and surrounded me. The next thing I remember is waking up and scrambling for my bag and you yelling at me.”

“You still haven’t thanked me for healing you yet, by the way.”

“Thank you,” he bows, pressing his palm against a closed fist.

“What was in your bag anyways,” Katara teases.

“Ashes. My Uncle’s,” Zuko swallows back the swarm of emotions threatening to escape through his voice.

“Oh,” Katara places her hand on his shoulder to offer him any slight comfort she can, “I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”

“It’s okay,” his voice breaks slightly. If Katara notices, she doesn’t comment on it. Zuko places his own hand atop of hers. She looks up at him softly and with an understanding that does not go unnoticed.

“I was there when he died. His final wish was for me to take his ashes to Ba Sing Se. That’s where he lost his son, my cousin Lu Ten. Uncle, he wanted to be reunited with his son in the spirit world in the city where they were separated by his death.” Zuko’s raspy voice is shaking, his visible grief is on the verge of shattering into tears.

“I promised him. I promised him that I’d make sure his wish was fulfilled.”

Katara pulls him into a hug, she can feel him trembling in her embrace, his head buried in her shoulder. She says nothing, she just lets him cry and strokes his hair for as long as he needs. They remain that way for a while, standing in midst of pale green fields under the smothering midday sun. Katara comforts Zuko and he holds onto her like he’s afraid she too will disappear in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading !! Sorry if the time skip/change in POV was unclear. Any kudos, comments or bookmarks mean the world to me, I seriously appreciate them so much!! <3


End file.
